


Poltergeist in the Chimney

by orphan_account



Series: Ghosty Yogs [2]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Gen, Ghosts, Ouija
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 18:46:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3540101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trott has been helping Nano since she was expelled from the boarding school. Under his guidance, Nano has learned how to become a more effective medium. Now, she is moving out.</p>
<p>Together, the spirit and the medium find an apartment selling for a fair price, in a neighborhood ripe for Nano's future spiritualist business. But there might be something wrong with the place...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Poltergeist in the Chimney

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iznj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iznj/gifts).



> Set in the same universe as [My Medium](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3451832).

The old wooden landing at the top of the stairs creaked whenever Nano or the landlord shifted their position. He was thumbing through a key ring, hunched before the door to the upstairs flat. 

“Here,” he proclaimed, inserting a key into the hole below the door handle and turning it. The lock clicked audibly and the landlord pushed the door open. 

The flat was fairly well lit from the tall frosted windows along the south wall. Sparse particles of dust floated in the air and caught the wintery light from outside, filling the apartment with an inviting atmosphere. This initial room of the flat contained several armchairs and a loveseat crowded around a small table, a few empty bookshelves, and a pair of standing lamps on the north wall. The furniture was covered by plain white sheets. An empty stone hearth was set into the east wall ahead of her, framed on either side by two identical doors. Nano could see an opening in the north wall, which presumably led to the kitchen. 

The floor creaked far less when she stepped onto the bare wooden planks. She followed the landlord into the flat and took a deep breath of the air. It smelled of age and the wooden floor. She would have to bring in plants to improve that if she chose to live here.

Trott was leaning on her shoulders, pressing on her consciousness with every step she took into the flat. Nano’s attention was drawn to the hearth, where she saw the faintest trace of green. She breathed evenly, concentrating, and she could feel a trace of malicious intent.

It wasn’t stifling or overwhelming, so it couldn’t be an angry spirit. 

Or maybe it was an angry spirit that had learned how to conceal its presence. 

Was there such a thing?

Nano tugged on the ends of her gloves to keep out some of the cold. Meanwhile, Trott hovered restlessly about her, occasionally drifting away, then returning with a similar intensity. She wished she could reach out and hold his hand to assure him that the two of them would be fine, so long as they worked together.

The landlord halted in the center of the room and turned back to Nano. There was hope in his eyes and optimism in his posture. 

“It’s a decent location, I must say,” the landlord began. “There’s a Tube station not far from here. And I know a great bakery half a block north of here. Roads can get noisy during rush hour, but this place is far enough from the street level that you won’t hear much of that. The view’s not bad, and while it can get chilly in these winter months, you’ll always get every bit of sun when it decides to show its face.” He chuckled and waited until Nano smiled back to point to the first of the two doors behind him. “That one’s to the bedroom. The other one’s to an office room that can be used as a spare bedroom if you need. There’s a bathroom connecting the two. It’s a full bathroom too. Just had it refurbished last year.”

Nano nodded. “Sounds like a steal, considering how much your advertisement asks for this place.”

The landlord wrung his hands. “Ah, yes.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the place?” Trott’s presence left Nano’s side for a few long, tense seconds and Nano had to restrain herself from pulling the miniature board out of her purse to ask him exactly why he was so antsy. 

“Nothing that I’ve seen. I’ve had the place inspected after each tenant left but--”

Nano cocked her head curiously. “Have there been complaints about anything? I’m still very interested in this place, by the way,” she added when she saw that the landlord’s cheer had dissipated. 

“There’s nothing wrong with the place,” the landlord insisted. “Just been a lot of folks leaving a week or so after they start moving in. They don’t even ask for their money back. They just sign to cancel the lease and never come back.” He was starting to pace, so Nano headed towards the kitchen.

“You don’t mind that I look around a bit more?” Nano asked. The landlord followed after her. 

The kitchen was tiled with smooth cream-colored tiles that fit together in an organized pattern. It didn’t look like it would be too hard to clean. While some of the cabinets appeared to be rather dated, the refrigerator, microwave, oven, stove, and dishwasher all seemed modern enough. There was an empty china cabinet in the corner of the kitchen. In the center was a simple polished wooden table surrounded by four chairs.

As if Nano would ever need that many.

“I had one of the best cleaning services on this side of the city in here to make sure there wasn’t anything weird,” the landlord said behind Nano. She glanced at him over her shoulder, then turned around to face him. “I hear stories about body parts being found in the walls and it makes me worried about this place. Mind you, I don’t believe in curses, but…”

“I’m sure it’s nothing like that,” Nano assured the landlord. She walked back to the main living room and crossed the space to the closed door that led to the main bedroom. As she passed in front of the fireplace, Trott’s presence suddenly constricted around her like a ghostly scarf. She could sense his concern and apprehension. Nano halted. 

She stood in front of the fireplace. Trott weighed down on her upper back and right shoulder. Nano swatted at the spirit, but of course, that did nothing.

“How old is this building?” Nano asked. She bent down to peer inside the fireplace. The other spirit was lingering just at the edge of her reach. It felt unlike anything she had encountered before. Almost like it was coated in a thin film of slime, although its presence was very warm and flitting about rapidly. 

Guarded, Nano craned her neck to try to look upwards. All she saw was the stone walls of the chimney. The flue stretched up until it was crowned with an iron cap.

“Bit over a hundred years.”

“Hm.”

“Is there anything wrong in there?” The landlord was beside Nano now, and he peered at the stone of the chimney, looking for something off.

“No,” Nano scooted backwards and brushed ashes off her trousers. “I like the place. Can I have a while longer to look at it before I make my decision though?”

“Sure.” The landlord removed himself from the hearth. “I’ll be down on the ground floor when you’re done. I hope you find this place to your liking.”

Nano nodded and watched the man head back to the entrance doorway. As soon as the door shut behind him, she hurried over to a section of bare floor a short distance away from the hearth. She took her board out of her purse and set the little planchette on top of the **Hello**. Next came three small carved candles. Nano placed them in a row on the far side of her board.

She really hoped that the landlord wouldn’t walk in on her doing this. 

Leaving the candles as they were, Nano settled two fingers against the polished wooden planchette. She felt Trott’s spiritual forces moving her hand in the most familiar of gestures.

**POLTERGEIST IN THE CHIMNEY**

Oh no. That was certainly something they had never faced together.

“Does it know about you?”

**Yes**

Nano sighed. “So it knows we’re doing this.” She looked up from the board and eyed the place in which she had knelt only moments before. “Do you want to come out of the fireplace, maybe?”

A greenish hued young man stepped out of the fireplace. His appearance was surprisingly solid and stable compared to most of the spirits that Nano had seen throughout her life. Although his entire body had a green tint, Nano could still make out colors and designs in the modern attire he wore. 

The poltergeist tilted his head and smirked dangerously through a thin burnt orange beard. “Yeah, I can see you and hear you. I can see and hear _him_ too. Nosy little prick.” His eyes darkened. “Mind your own business.”

Nano narrowed her eyes challengingly. “Well, it’s going to be our business soon, when we start living here. Do we need to chase you out?”

The poltergeist strode closer. Nano felt Trott move protectively in front of her. 

“Move,” the poltergeist demanded. Trott must have been saying something to him, because he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. All three candles spontaneously burst into green flame and flared brightly. Gradually, the fire dimmed down, but kept burning a yellow-green color. The poltergeist reached forwards and grabbed at the air in between himself and the medium. Nano’s chest suddenly felt tight. 

“Let him go,” she ordered, voice strained. She got to her feet and did her best to face off the poltergeist. He was unbelievably taller than her but she refused to back down. She couldn’t feel Trott as well as she usually could.

“You’re not an exorcist. You’re a medium. He’s…” the poltergeist broke off, squinting at what Nano assumed was Trott. “I don’t know. But it’s pretty clear that you’re not the first medium he’s babysat.”

“Trott,” Nano breathed. 

The poltergeist stumbled backwards, eyes wide. Behind Nano, the flames glowed an intense scarlet orange. 

“Whoa! Whoa,” the poltergeist exclaimed. “Fine. He says I should tell you my name since I know his now.”

Oops.

“Alsmiffy,” he said. “Call me that or Smiffy.”

“I’m Nano.”

“Nice to meet you,” Alsmiffy said sourly. 

“Are you haunting this place?” Nano asked. 

“One question at a time!” Alsmiffy said. He glared at where Nano assumed Trott was now. 

“Answer mine,” Nano said. 

“Fine.” Alsmiffy looked away from Trott and focused on Nano. “Yeah, you could say that. Not haunting like a normal ghost. I just don’t think people should live here. When someone moves in, I just give them plenty of reason to move out.”

“Why?” Nano demanded. 

Alsmiffy grinned and floated off the floor. He flipped over and stood on the ceiling as easily as if he were standing on normal ground. “I’m a poltergeist. Making people miserable and driving them into paranoia is fun. What else am I supposed to do with this power? Kill people?” 

The flames on the candles flickered green for a split second, but almost instantly reverted to Trott’s signature scarlet color. 

“Piss off, mate,” Alsmiffy grumbled. He stumbled back a moment later, pushed by Trott. The spirit then settled comfortably beside Nano. “Oh fucking hell, stop with the ridiculous act!”

Nano chuckled. “What? Are you just mad because he’s stronger than you?”

Alsmiffy glowed green. Around the living room, the furniture took on the same color. Green ghost flames appeared in the hearth behind the poltergeist. “You two should leave now before I make you.”

“No.” Nano replied shortly. She put her hands on her hips and faced off the poltergeist on the ceiling.

Alsmiffy blinked. “Why the fuck not?” The fire hadn’t disappeared, but the furniture was quickly returning to normal. Meanwhile, Trott wasn’t leaning on Nano anymore, but she could sense that the spirit had not gone far.

“I like it here. And if all I have to deal with is a bit of a chill from the windows and a poltergeist who’s going to be totally whipped from my spirit in a day or two, then I’m moving in.” She smirked at the poltergeist and spun around to collect her board from the floor. Then she picked up two of her candles from the floor--still burning with Trott’s scarlet fire--and relocated them to rest on the mantle. As soon as one of the candles touched down onto the stone, the green fire below died. Pleased, Nano brought the other candle over, maneuvering around the stubborn poltergeist.

“What? No. Move. Don’t. _You_ get out of my--Ahh!” Alsmiffy was squawking. He tried to chase after Nano, but out of the corner of her eyes, she saw him covering his head and fleeing to a corner of the room.

“Trott, can you talk to him while I sign the papers?” Nano asked. 

The burning candles flared briefly in response. Nano beamed. “Thanks! With any luck, I can get us moved in by tomorrow! If you need anything, just come down and get me, okay?” Another gentle flare.

“Fuck you both!” Alsmiffy screeched, still covering his hair. He dashed from one side of the room to the other and floated from the ceiling to the floor, but avoided the hearth completely. “I’ll make your life miserable, I promise you. I--no, I mean… I’m not going to hurt you but… I’ll make your toast burn!”

Nano waited until she had closed the door and started down the staircase to giggle.


End file.
